At a 90th birthday party for Dr. Aaron Beck, given by Pearson Assessment at the American Psychological Association annual conference in Washington, D.C., we had the opportunity to catch up with our colleague, Dr. Antonette Zeiss, Ph.D., whom we have known for many years. We are so pleased that she, a very prominent cognitive behavior therapist, has been appointed to be Chief Consultant for the Office of Mental Health Services, in the Veterans Health Administration at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Dr. Zeiss was already the highest ranking psychologist in the VA, and is now the first psychologist, and first woman, to hold the role of Chief Consultant.

In 2007, Dr. Zeiss received an American Psychological Association (APA) Presidential Citation recognizing her leadership contributions both in APA and the VA. And last year, Dr. Zeiss won a Distinguished Career Award from the Association of VA Psychologist Leaders for her continued efforts to improve mental health services.

We applaud Dr. Zeiss’s accomplishments in the field of psychology and cognitive behavior therapy, and we appreciate the efforts of the tens of thousands of health and mental health professionals who treat active duty and veteran military service members and their families. To learn more about a scholarship initiative to help train these professionals in cognitive behavior therapy please visit www.soldiersuicideprevention.org.